Smart Bets: Brown Bird at Isis

One reviewer described Rhode Island-based Brown Bird as "‘30s-era Ellington flirting with Cuban and Middle Eastern tropes in a proverbially dusty middle-America barn." The duo is David Lamb and MorganEve Swain, and their newly-released album, Fits of Reason is a continuation of the band's quest for innovation paired with literary savvy and esoteric musings. Brown Bird spent much of last year touring with the likes of Trampled By Turtles, The Devil Makes Three, Yonder Mountain String Band and Horse Feathers. This spring's tour bring them to Isis on Saturday, May 4. 9 p.m., Last Good Tooth opens. $10/$13. http://isisasheville.com. Photo by Mikael Kennedy